Yes Christian, You Need the Church

It happens to be one of the more popular traps along the journey of faith—the idea that somewhere along the path of righteousness we somehow outgrow our need for the church. Perhaps you’ve met someone who was too busy for the church. Maybe you’ve encouraged someone who thought they were too important for the church. What was once the central aspect of their life has now turned into an occasional hobby. We all need a healthy reminder from time-to-time that we need the church in all seasons and successes of life.

We Need the Church for Worship – Not Entertainment or Performance

When the early church is pictured in the early pages of Acts (Acts 2:42-47), we see the picture of a worshipping church. Centered around the Word of God, the people responded to God in a life that reverberated with the rhythm of worship. You don’t see people searching for their type of music. You don’t see people using the church for a performance outlet to satisfy their narcissistic appetite to be seen, heard, and to perform. You see a people who are gathered to worship the sovereign God who spoke the universe into existence from nothing and rescued them through the blood of Christ. Often times in my experience of church life and ministry I’ve found that less is more. More focus on God and less pragmatism is always a much more healthy diet for a church.

We Need the Church for Spiritual Development

In the first letter to the church at Thessalonica, Paul explains the calling of the church to live holy and God exalting lives (1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:12). It requires the church laboring together in this effort to sharpen one another (Proverbs 27:17) and to hold one another accountable. Certainly it must be said that spiritual development in the church also requires a people who are committed to church discipline (see Matthew 18). The Word of God points out that God’s will is never for the Christian to develop spiritually in a vacuum or on a lonely island. Through the community of a local church, God’s people exercise their spiritual giftedness together and it results in spiritual development. Everyone in the church matters! The church is not a building, it’s a people who are called out for God’s glory. It’s impossible to be a part of God’s church without immersing yourself into a local body of Christ followers.

We Need the Church for Christ-Centered Friendship

As we read through Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, we see the need for companionship along the journey of faith. We are not intended to hike our way to the Celestial City alone. Christ has graciously given us fellow pilgrims and it would be a soul damaging decision to attempt life without Christ-centered friendship. This is true for all members of the church – including the pastors who lead the church. Christian friendship enables us to seek advice, receive accountability, stay grounded in the faith, and spur one another onward to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24-25). If the people in your church don’t know you, you’re not really a member of the church.

We Need the Church for Biblical Leadership

The self-guided tour of Christianity doesn’t exist. It’s not an option for the true believer. God has sovereignly designed His church with leaders who are called to faithfully shepherd the church (see 1 Peter 5:1-11 and Hebrews 13:17). Just as it would be utterly foolish for the inexperienced data analyst to leave his cubicle in New York and set out on a self-guided summit of Mount Everest, so it is with those who think they can navigate through this harsh and fallen world without submitting to their pastors. In a day where YouTube and Google serve up whatever recipe or how-to video we can imagine, we must be reminded that God has not called Google or YouTube to serve as our pastors.

We Need the Church for Missions

As Christ was leaving the sod of this earth, He provided some extremely important words to His followers. He said:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:18-20).

The Great Commission is not a great suggestion. It’s a command given to us by Christ, but we must likewise remember that it cannot be accomplished alone. Even a lone ranger Christian (which is an oxymoron) cannot accomplish the Great Commission by merely utilizing para-church organizations. If a single Christian is to engage properly in the Great Commission, it must be through the context of a local, tangible, New Testament church.

The church is not an option for some Christians, it’s a mandate for all Christians. To be a Christian involves participation in the local church. Charles Spurgeon once remarked, “Nobody can do as much damage to the church of God as the man who is within its walls, but not within its life.” As we pass through various seasons of life, we must avoid the arrogant and self-dependent ideology of spiritual autonomy. It doesn’t end well.

Will you pass this on to your friends?0001001

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11 Comments

louis wachsmuth
on August 2, 2016 at 8:52 am

No, a serious christian will have their soul damaged by sitting for decades listening to the same shallow series of lectures on Sunday. Christians need hands-on practice in the arts of writing and public speaking; something the church isn’t going to do because the program is based on ‘hired expert speaking Greek and Hebrew words to passive audience.’ Imagine wanting to become a medical doctor with out hands on practice, just ten years of the same series of lectures on general biology.

David
on August 2, 2016 at 9:41 am

Louis, if church is only listening to ‘lectures’ – then that is only church attendance. Being part of a church means much more than sitting in Sunday morning sermons, lectures, or lessons (depending on the style and quality). It is living in community. It is learning on your own because you are studying the Bible. It is serving other Christians, and serving with them. It is serving the world around you. By your illustration, do you want someone doing surgery on you who wasn’t instructed by expert surgeons? Or just someone who learned on their own through practice?
We can debate what a good church is and isn’t, but none of us will attend a perfect church or hear perfect sermons from perfect pastors. But we still must embrace and be fully immersed in a local body of believers for our spiritual health and the spiritual health of others.
I’ve met many Christians who don’t feel they need to attend a local church. There is a sense of prideful and condescending attitude that always seems to go along with it. The local church is God’s idea for us to embrace not to reject.

Josh Buice
on August 2, 2016 at 4:05 pm

Louis, my argument in this article is opposed to the idea of “attending” and merely listening to lectures. The goal is to gather for the necessary reasons I’ve listed (which is by no means an exhaustive list) and then to scatter to do the work of missions. Gathering and scattering – preaching and participating – are all necessary aspects of the church’s life.

Jeff
on August 13, 2016 at 5:49 am

To hopefully make my point easier to make, Louis, please allow me to rewrite what you wrote:

A serious Christian will have his soul damaged over decades of worshipping God corporately and for contributing to bible study discussions.

The sentence I wrote above is ludicrous, right?

I strongly believe that corporate worship is NOT supposed to be a lecture. No one, including the pastor, should consider corporate worship as a lecture. During bible study? Sure. This and other venues are where we get to hone not only our public speaking skills but we also see opportunities to observe the Holy Spirit guiding us to do better at loving our neighbors by bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is truly an exciting experience, the whole thing. That is where I personally see evidence of ‘being of one mind’.

Now, if the pastor’s words (i.e., sermon) truly distract from proper worship of God, then there is a very serious problem. If that is truly what is going on, then as with anything and everything, bring it to the Lord in prayer. He will bring healing to the assembly or He will get you to another assembly. How and when He does these things is completely up to Him.

God be with you.

Tom Harmon
on August 2, 2016 at 10:08 am

We need the church for accountability. We need the church, for our obedience to God’s clear teaching and commands, as He instituted it!

Lisi
on August 2, 2016 at 11:21 am

I have never thought about leaving the church assembly. But, I do have problems participating especially in “Women’s Ministries”. They are frequently watered or dumbed down teachings for women. I don’t want to come across prideful or condescending but why isn’t spiritual growth important?

I agree- or the women’s ministry has become a social event that women attend to idolize the pastor’s wife. There are many people in our community that women can minister to. WSe should not be participating in women’s ministry just to have another night at church where we are simply “shining” brilliantly at each other rather than being salt and light out in the community. We need to become an active part of the church not remain a passive part of the church.

Argylist
on August 2, 2016 at 1:54 pm

Great post. Establishing a Church is precisely what Christ did on earth. He did not leave us with a handbook, saying “good luck on your own.” He gave us a Church to bind us, to guide us, and to do God’s work on earth.

Shelly
on August 3, 2016 at 5:40 pm

Thank you for sharing this. We ALL need the Church!

Marty Beal
on August 6, 2016 at 8:33 pm

I agree but let’s not forget the most important reason, salvation.
Belgic Confession Article 28: The Obligations of Church Members (excerpt)
We believe that
since this holy assembly and congregation
is the gathering of those who are saved
and there is no salvation apart from it,
people ought not to withdraw from it,
content to be by themselves,
regardless of their status or condition.

Drew
on September 2, 2016 at 10:39 am

The church is not a building; it is saved people. We are the church–the “called out ones” == not just on Sunday, but everyday. We are called to preach the Good News to others wherever we are, to gather together and confess our sins to one another, to pray for one another, and to minister healing grace. Jesus Christ is the head of the church, and we are His temple. If we think that we have have to go to a building to find the church, we most likely misunderstand the gospel that makes us the church.

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Delivered By Grace is a theology blog that focuses on theology, SBC, preaching, the church, and many issues within the Christian life. Delivered By Grace is edited by Josh Buice and contributed to by various other preachers and writers. Unless otherwise noted, articles are written by Josh Buice.

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